


Just For You

by legojacques (InterruptingDinosaur)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, gifts as an expression of affection, it's jack's way of saying that he cares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 13:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13272429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterruptingDinosaur/pseuds/legojacques
Summary: “These are for you,” Jack said as he unceremoniously dumped the contents of his coat pockets onto the kitchen counter.Bitty, who’d had his mug halfway to his mouth, brought it back down again. “Uh, okay?” he said as he stared at the array of packets Jack has just scattered. “You brought me honey?” He looked up at Jack in earnest confusion.“Yes,” Jack said simply.“Why?”“They were there,” Jack replied with no change in his expression.-Jack keeps bringing Bitty gifts. Or, in which Jack is like a cat with a dead bird or a crow with something shiny when he likes someone.





	Just For You

“These are for you,” Jack said as he unceremoniously dumped the contents of his coat pockets onto the kitchen counter.

Bitty, who’d had his mug halfway to his mouth, brought it back down again. “Uh, okay?” he said as he stared at the array of packets Jack has just scattered. “You brought me honey?” He looked up at Jack in earnest confusion.

“Yes,” Jack said simply.

“Why?”

“They were there,” Jack replied with no change in his expression. Bitty wasn’t sure if this was a new joke of the week that he hadn’t caught on yet.

“Okay?”

“You said you needed honey yesterday.”

“Oh!” Bitty exclaimed as he finally realized that this was a thoughtful gift from Jack.

Bitty had needed honey for his tea last night, but after searching through the kitchen and interviewing some guilty Haus residents, it was discovered that Ransom and Holster had eaten what was left in the bottle that Bitty kept at the back of the one of the cupboards. Now, Jack was bringing him some. He suppressed a small giggle at the image of Jack stealing all the free condiments he could fit in his pockets from the dining hall.

“Thank you,” Bitty said with a small smile, as he gathered them into a small pile.

When he glanced up again, Jack’s eyes were soft. “You’re welcome.”

—

“How do you not have real gloves?”

“These are real gloves!” Bitty argued as he stretched a hand to wiggle his fingers. Beside him, Jack snorted.

“Those barely warrant as gloves. The wind goes right through ‘em.”

“Yeah, but I also have my coffee to keep my hands warm,” Bitty said. He grinned cheekily up at Jack as he wrapped both hands around his cardboard cup lovingly. Today was latte day, which was a special treat he only got once a week since he and Jack started getting coffee regularly after their early morning checking practices.

“That coffee will be mostly cold and your fingers will be icicles by the time we get back to the Haus,” Jack pointed out.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, Mr. Zimmermann.”

Jack sighed and stopped walking, forcing Bitty to stop too. “Hold this,” he instructed as he passed Bitty his cup (black coffee because he refused to indulge in sugar and cream even his caffeine).

“Uh,” Bitty started, but Jack was already taking off his own gloves and holding them out to Bitty. “What?”

“Take them,” Jack said. “You clearly need them.”

“What about you?”

“I have more than one pair of good gloves, trust me,” Jack said as he plucked the coffee cups from Bitty’s grasp.

They were already warm from Jack’s hands when Bitty slipped the gloves on. His own hands had been cold, but he’d been unwilling to admit that aloud to Jack. They were a bit too big for him, but there was an extra, fleece lined layer on the inside that really did keep his hands warm.

“Better?” Jack asked.

Bitty looked up, unable to help the bright smile spreading on his face. “Much better,” he said.

“Good,” Jack said softly, a smile spreading on his own face.

—

Bitty woke up with an uncomfortable jerk into consciousness as a burst of panic filled him. It was dark in the kitchen and as he groped for his phone in the dark, Bitty felt something soft slither down from his shoulders. He grabbed at it, and it took him longer than it should have to realize that someone had draped a blanket over him when he’d been passed out on the kitchen table.

The time on the microwave indicated it was some time after midnight and that Bitty had been asleep for nearly an hour. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes and cursed himself for leaving his paper until the night before it was due. Bitty had deliberately gone to work in the kitchen to avoid the temptation of going to sleep, but it appeared he’d passed out on the kitchen table anyways.

He got up to flick on the switch, squinting painfully at the sudden flood of bright light. The blanket on the chair was a familiar plaid pattern that Bitty recognized. It usually lay across the foot of Jack’s bed.

There was a strange flutter in Bitty’s chest that he was too tired to analyze, but he did make a note to save Jack an extra piece of pie tomorrow to thank him. He folded up the blanket and collected his books and computer to head back upstairs. However, as he passed by Jack’s room, dim light spilled out from underneath the crack of his door.

Bitty debated going back to his own room and just talking to Jack in the morning, but since Jack was still clearly awake, he knocked lightly on the door. He heard rustling from the other side before Jack opened the door. His shirt was askew, like he’d been shirtless and had quickly thrown it on just seconds ago. Bitty could feel himself turn pink at the thought, but he mustered up a smile to cover up any lingering embarrassment.

“I wanted to bring this back,” he said, passing the blanket over.  “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jack said. There was a moment of awkwardness where Bitty wanted to say something else but wasn’t sure what. Thankfully, Jack saved him from actually having to come up with anything. “Were you, uh, finishing homework?”

“Yeah,” Bitty admitted sheepishly. “I should have started it before tonight.”

“Are you done?”

“Kind of. Well, technically, I am, but I still have to read through it and probably make a few edits before I hand it in tomorrow.” He tried to stifle a yawn, but it came out despite his best efforts.

Jack frowned. “Do you want me to look it over?”

“Huh?”

“I can proofread it tonight. I can’t sleep anyways.”

“Okay,” Bitty agreed, feeling relieved. He held out his laptop, but Jack stepped back instead.

“Come in,” he said.

“Oh,”Bitty said in surprise, but he was too tired to argue much. “Okay.”

Jack sat at his desk while Bitty perched on the edge of the bed. The sheets felt cool and smooth under his fingertips, and Bitty was suddenly struck by a wave of exhaustion. He didn’t remember laying down on the bed, but the next thing he knew, it was already morning with the sunlight pouring in from the window.

Bitty twisted around, confused and disoriented, until he realized that he was curled up in Jack’s blankets. Jack was nowhere in sight, and Bitty felt a pang of guilt for falling asleep. He grabbed his laptop and hurried back to his room.

Clicking through the edits and comments that Jack had made from the previous night, Bitty finished the paper in record time, and even submitted it hours before it was due. It was still early and the rest of the Haus was quiet as Bitty decided to skip his morning class in favor of crawling back into his bed for a few more hours of sleep.

It wasn’t long before the slam of the front door downstairs startled him from the drowsy slide into unconsciousness. A few moments later, there was a loud and an insistent knocking on his bedroom door. Bitty groaned and got up to open this door to find Jack standing on the other side holding two coffee cups from Annie’s. He wordlessly held one of them out to Bitty who gratefully accepted.

“You probably shouldn’t go back to sleep now that you’re up. Don’t want to mess up your sleep schedule, eh?”

Maybe it was the combination of sleep deprivation and Jack’s easy grin, but Bitty had the sudden urge to reach up on his tiptoes and kiss him. Bitty sucked in a deep breath at the thought, and bit his lip to keep himself from doing anything stupid.

“Thanks, Jack,” he finally settled on.

“Anytime,” Jack replied, his smile unwavering.

—

“You bought me butter?”

“You said you needed butter.” Jack stuffed his hands in his pocket with a little shrug.

“No, I said I needed a ride to the store to get butter.” Bitty glanced down at the plastic bag again. “Did you buy every stick of butter in the store?”

“There was a sale,” Jack muttered even though they both knew that the butter never went on sale at the Stop n Shop. “And American butter sticks are so small,” he added sadly.

“Not everything is bigger and better in Canada,” Bitty scoffed, but then stopped short when he realized how it sounded. “I mean–”

“You sure?” Jack chirped with a laugh.

“That’s not what I meant, ,” Bitty said even though he could feel himself flushing.

“Sure, Bittle,” he said with a twinkle of amusement.

“For that, Mr. Zimmermann, you can stay and help me bake.”

Jack laughed again and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I’ve never baked before.”

“It’s easy,” Bitty said, already pulling the flour and measuring cups out of the cupboards. “I’ll teach you.”

Baking with Jack was more fun than Bitty had expected, despite Jack’s hesitation as he tried to drape the pieces of dough over the top of the pie in an attempt to create something of a crisscross pattern.

“Need a hand there?” Bitty asked teasingly.

Jack’s eyes darted to Bitty for a fraction of a second before he went back to his laser concentration. When he finally finished the top, he stood back to dust his hands while still glaring at the pie like it had offended him personally. “I don’t know why you trusted me with that. It looks terrible,” he said.

“Nah, it’s got character,” Bitty said cheerfully as he popped the pie into the oven with the others. “Besides, it’ll taste better because you made it.” When he straightened up, Jack was staring at Bitty intently.

“I–” Jack started before pausing for a second. “I can’t wait.”

Something about the timbre of Jack’s voice made Bitty shiver, and his hands tightened on the dishrag he was holding. Bitty turned around to busy himself with wiping the counter, unable to trust himself to speak.

That heart-thumping feeling was back as Bitty realized belatedly that he was so screwed.

—

Bitty had his music playing in the background and he was humming along to it when he heard the front door of the Haus opening and closing. A moment later, Jack appeared in the doorway of the kitchen with his backpack slung casually over one shoulder. “You made _pain au chocolat_?” he asked, eyeing the pastries.

“Hey Jack,” Bitty said. “Just in time. Want one?”

“Sure,” Jack said. He dropped his backpack on the floor and moved over by the counter.

Bitty could feel Jack’s body heat against his back when he came up behind Bitty and reached over him to grab a plate from the cupboard. It disappeared too soon though when Jack stepped back and Bitty had to pretend he hadn’t had a moment where he wished he could lean back against Jack. “One or two?”

“One’s good,” Jack replied. “No pies today?”

“I can bake more than just pies, you know. I’m not a one-trick pony.”

Jack chuckled before he took a bite. A flake of golden pastry caught in the corner of his lip, and Bitty was helpless to look away when Jack’s tongue flicked out to lick at it. He forced himself to take a deep breath before he did anything stupid.

“This is really good,” Jack finally said. He looked at it thoughtfully. “So, why _pain au chocolat_?” Jack asked.

Bitty gave a half-hearted laugh. “Your dad might have been tweeting pictures of desserts, and I wanted to try making it myself,” he admitted. “It was actually not as difficult as I had expected.”

“There’s a bakery near my parents house. Dad loves that place. We used to get bread and pastries from there all the time,” Jack explained, his eyes softening as he stared at the half eaten dessert.

“Mine are better though, right?” Bitty teased, shaking Jack out his thoughts.

Jack cracked a smile. “Much better.” He finished the last bite of it and dropped the plate into the sink. “Thanks for that. It was really good.”

“Well, let me know if there’s anything else I can make. It’s the least I can do.”

“Why? For what?”

“You know, everything,” Bitty said, looking away. “Helping me with checking practice, the gloves and the honey, and not to mention the giant bag of butter.”

“Oh, uh, you’re welcome,” Jack replied slowly. He put his hands in his pockets, and then after a pause, he quietly added, “I just want you to be happy.”

“Oh,” Bitty said simply as he stared up at Jack. Something snapped in Bitty, and before he knew it, he was striding forward to wrap his arms around Jack’s neck and pulling him down to kiss him. Jack made a noise of surprise at first, but then pulled Bitty closer. For an indescribable moment, the rest of the world seemed to melt away, leaving just the two of them.

When Bitty finally leaned back, he could feel himself grinning goofily, a smile that Jack mirrored. “You make me happy, Jack” he confessed.

“Bitty,” Jack whispered. “I–” he started, trying to find the right words. Finally, he said, “You make me happy too,” before kissing him again.

—

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at [legojacques ](http://legojacques.tumblr.com)or find the fic [ on tumblr.](http://legojacques.tumblr.com/post/168627677313/jack-likes-to-show-his-affection-through-small)


End file.
